Rhodes Department Store fabric section.

Business Enterprises - Department Stores - Tacoma - Rhodes Brothers - Fabric Department

Rhodes Department Store fabric section.

Business Enterprises - Department Stores - Tacoma - Rhodes Brothers - Fabric Department

Rhodes Millinery Mirror Room along with other departments had recently been remodeled and modernized. The room featured modern fixtures in a renovated spacious room. Rhodes offered fashionable and chic hats for the modern woman. View of Mirror Room with hat displays and comfortable areas for women to try on their favorite hat styles (T. Times, 5/16/46, p. 10).

Millinery; Hats--1940-1950; Merchandise displays--Tacoma; Department stores--Tacoma; Rhodes Brothers Department Store (Tacoma);

Rhodes Department Store trimmings section. This view of the fabric department was taken in late April of 1946. Rhodes had been in business since 1903. It finally closed in 1974.

Rhodes Brothers Department Store (Tacoma); Department stores--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Rhodes Department Store lingerie section as photographed on April 29, 1946. The venerable downtown department store was located at 950 Broadway and offered quality merchandise at reasonable prices. Its slogan "All Roads Lead to Rhodes" was famous throughout the Puget Sound region. Rhodes had been in business in Tacoma since 1892 but would close its flagship store in late December of 1974.

Rhodes Brothers Department Store (Tacoma); Department stores--Tacoma--1940-1950; Lingerie;

Rhodes Department Store corset shop. Undergarments are stacked neatly on two tables in this photograph dated April 29, 1946.

Rhodes Brothers Department Store (Tacoma); Department stores--Tacoma--1940-1960; Lingerie; Corsets;

Night exposure "back to school" window at Rhodes. August is alway the month for buying school wardrobes and this window shows what the fashionable 1953 student will be wearing that first day of school. Plaid and double breasted coats were the fashion of choice. Girls are attired in dresses and the layered look appears popular. TPL-9346

Rhodes Brothers Department Store (Tacoma); Window displays--Tacoma--1950-1960; Mannequins; Clothing stores--Tacoma--1950-1960; Clothing & dress--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Originally built as a three story building in 1903, the Rhodes Brothers Department Store at 950 Broadway had two stories and a roof garden added in 1911; the building continued to undergo considerable remodeling through the years. To modernize the front of the store, a new facade was added at the end of the 1940s. The facade was removed in 1980 when the building was bought by the University of Puget Sound and became home to the Norton Clapp Law Center. In the early days, in an effort to bring more trade into Tacoma from the outside, the Rhodes brothers came up with the idea of highway signs, Washington's first. The signs claimed "All Roads lead to Rhodes" and gave the number of miles to Tacoma. These signs were erected as far south as the Columbia river and into southwest Washington and the Grays Harbor areas. In the days when there were few automobiles, these signs became landmarks.

Rhodes Brothers Department Store (Tacoma); Department stores--Tacoma--1950-1960;

New neon sign lights up the night over the entrance to Rhodes, Tacoma's largest department store at 11th and Broadway. Rhodes was founded in 1892 by Henry A. Rhodes as a tea and coffee shop. The small shop operated in various downtown locations until it opened at its Broadway location in 1903 as a grand department store, on the model of Wanamaker's or Marshall Fields. The store continued to expand until 1925 when Henry Rhodes retired and the family business was sold. The store eventually became part of the Western Department store chain, until it closed in 1974.

Rhodes Brothers Department Store (Tacoma); Department stores--Tacoma; Electric signs--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Rhodes Brothers showing new sign above doorway. Coast Neon Displays, Carl Eckstein. Rhodes Brothers Department Store was built at the corner of 11th and Broadway in 1903. Over the years the front has been remodeled several times. Here is a view of the front as it appeared in June of 1950. Coast Neon Displays of Tacoma had just installed a new neon sign above the front entrance. Note that there is a parking meter next to the right front fender of the Cadillac convertible.

Rhodes Brothers Department Store (Tacoma); Clothing stores--Tacoma--1950-1960; Electric signs--Tacoma--1950-1960; Coast Neon Displays (Tacoma); Cadillac automobile;